Liquid ejecting method and liquid ejecting apparatus

ABSTRACT

After a gloss-based liquid is ejected from a liquid ejection head, which ejects liquid from nozzles of a nozzle row, to a predetermined position on a landing target to form a glossy layer, a white-based liquid is ejected onto the glossy layer to form a white layer, the ejection amount of the gloss-based liquid being greater than the ejection amount of the white-based liquid.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/827,406 filed Mar. 14, 2013 (which patent application is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety), which is a Divisional ofapplication Ser. No. 13/045,888, filed Mar. 11, 2011 (which patentapplication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), whichclaims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-062165, filedMar. 18, 2010 (which is also expressly incorporated herein by referencein its entirety).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting method for use in aliquid ejecting apparatus including, for example, an ink jet typerecording head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus.

2. Related Art

In liquid ejecting apparatuses currently known in the art, printers areconfigured to perform various applications using a special color of inkin addition to black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) that arecolors becoming the basis of the formation of a letter or an image. Forexample, a printer disclosed in Japanese Patent DocumentJP-A-2009-126071 is configured so that the recording can be performedusing a white ink including a white pigment or a silver ink including ametal pigment. By performing the recording of the image or the likeusing the white ink or the silver ink, a wider range of color expressionis possible.

Unfortunately, however, a recording method currently used with such inksis less efficient than other printers. As such there is a need for anapparatus configuration thereof that is more effective when using theadditional ink, such as white ink or silver ink.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A liquid ejecting method according to an embodiment of the presentinvention includes ejecting a gloss-based liquid from a liquid ejectinghead for ejecting liquid from nozzles of a nozzle row to a predeterminedposition on a landing target to form a glossy layer, and ejecting awhite-based liquid on the glossy layer to form a white layer, wherein,in forming the glossy layer, the liquid is discharged so that anejection amount of the gloss-based liquid becomes greater than anejection amount of the white-based liquid ejected when forming the whitelayer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view that illustrates a configuration of aprinter according to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view of a recording headaccording to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram that illustrates an arrangement of anozzle row according to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates an electric configuration ofa printer according to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram that illustrates a drive signal generated from adrive signal generating circuit according to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram that illustrates a form of printingprocess at the time of a forward pass, and FIG. 6B is a schematicdiagram that explains a form of printing process at the time of areturning pass;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of an area VII in FIGS. 6A and 6B;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram that illustrates an arrangement of anozzle row in a second embodiment according to the invention;

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram that illustrates a form of printingprocess of a forward pass direction in a second embodiment according tothe invention, and FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram that illustrates aform of printing process of a returning pass direction in the presentembodiment; and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of an area X in FIGS. 9A and 9B according toanother aspect of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the invention will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the embodimentdescribed later, various limitations as desirable specific examples ofthe invention exist, but the scope of the invention is not limited tothese aspects unless there is a description to the effect that theinvention is limited in the following description. Note that, in thepresent embodiment, a configuration in which an image recordingapparatus that is a form of a liquid ejecting apparatus, specifically,an ink jet type printer (hereinafter, referred to as a printer) with anink jet type recording head (hereinafter, simply referred to as arecording head) as a liquid ejecting head mounted thereon will bedescribed by way of example.

In addition, in the following description, the term “white-based” meansa color that is visually recognized as white, and means that, forexample, white with a slight hint of color known as off-white or ivorywhite is also included without being limited to white of an achromaticcolor.

Moreover, in the following description, the term “gloss-based liquid”means a liquid that includes a metallic powder, a pearl powder or thelike as a pigment and allows visual recognition of the glossy feelingthrough the reflection of light by the pigment.

Firstly, the overall structure of a printer 1 will be described based onFIG. 1. The exemplified printer 1 has a carriage 4 on which a cartridgemounting portion 2 and a recording head 3 (a kind of liquid ejectinghead of the invention) are provided. The carriage 4 is pivotallysupported on a guide rod 5 and is mounted movably in a width direction(a main scanning direction) of a recording paper 6. A timing belt 9spanning between a driving pulley 7 and a free rolling pulley 8 isconnected to the carriage 4. In addition, the driving pulley 7 isconnected to a rotational axis of a pulse motor 10. Thus, the carriage 4moves in a width direction of the recording paper 6 (that is a kind ofrecording medium and a kind of landing object in the invention) by theoperation of the pulse motor 10. In a given area within the movementrange of the carriage 4, a home position is set, is the home positionbeing situated at the time of standby in which the recording head 3 doesnot perform the recording operation relative to the recording paper 6. Awiper mechanism 12 for cleaning a surface of a nozzle plate 11 (see FIG.2) of the recording head 3, and a capping mechanism 13 capable ofsealing the nozzle forming surface are disposed in the home position.

As the recording head, recording heads of various configurations can beused, but, in the present embodiment, the recording head 3 shown in FIG.2 is mounted on the printer 1. The recording head 3 includes a vibratorunit 15, a case 16 capable of receiving the vibrator unit 15 therein, aflow path unit 17 that is connected to a front surface of the case 16 orthe like.

The case 16 is a block-shaped member having a receiving space portion 18for receiving the vibrator unit 15 therein and is produced, for example,by molding resin (epoxy resin or the like). The vibrator unit 15includes a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 19 formed in the shape,such as a comb, a fixing plate 20 to which each piezoelectric vibrator19 is connected, and a flexible cable 21 for supplying a drive signal orthe like to each piezoelectric vibrator 19.

The piezoelectric vibrator 19 is a kind of pressure generating unit. Thepiezoelectric vibrator 19 of the present embodiment is a laminated typepiezoelectric vibrator that is produced, for example, by separating thepiezoelectric plate, in which a piezoelectric layer and an electrodelayer are alternately laminated over each other, in the shape such as acomb, and is a piezoelectric vibrator of a longitudinal vibration modecapable of stretching in a direction perpendicular to a stackeddirection.

The fixing plate 20 is a plate material made of metal that can acceptthe reaction from the piezoelectric vibrator 19. The flexible cable 21is a film-shaped wiring member having the flexibility. In addition, aterminal of one end of the flexible cable 21 is soldered to a terminalof the piezoelectric vibrator 19, and a terminal of the other sidethereof is soldered to a terminal of a wiring substrate 22.

Upon applying the electric field to the piezoelectric layer constitutingthe piezoelectric vibrator 19, that is, upon supplying the drive signalvia the flexible cable 21, the free end stretches in an element lengthdirection (a direction perpendicular to the stacked direction). Forexample, when the electric potential of the vibrator is raised by thecharging, the piezoelectric vibrator 19 contracts in the element lengthdirection, and when the electric potential of the vibrator is dropped bythe discharging, the piezoelectric vibrator 19 stretches in the elementlength direction.

The flow path unit 17 is a plate-shaped member having a series ofindividual liquid flow paths that lead from a liquid supply hole 23 viaa pressure chamber 24 to a nozzle 25. The flow path unit 17 includes aflow path forming substrate 26 having a space portion, a groove portionor the like becoming the pressure portion 24 or the liquid supply hole23, an elastic plate 27 that seals the opening of the space portion orthe groove portion to partition a part of the pressure chamber 24 or theliquid supply hole 23, and a nozzle plate 11 in which a plurality ofnozzles 25 is formed. In addition, the elastic plate 27 is connected toone surface of the flow path forming substrate 26, that is, the surfaceof the case side, and the nozzle plate 11 is connected to the othersurface of the flow path forming substrate 26, that is, the surface ofan opposite side of the elastic plate connecting surface. Theconfiguration of the nozzle plate 11 will be described later.

The elastic plate 27 has a double structure in which an elastic bodyfilm 30 is stacked over the surface of a support plate 29. In thepresent embodiment, a stainless plate, which is a kind of metallicplate, is formed as the support plate 29, whereby the elastic plate 27is produced using a complex plate material in which a resin film made ofPPS (polyphenylene sulfide) or PI (polyimide) is laminated on thesurface of the support plate 29 as the elastic body film 30. In theelastic plate 27, a diaphragm portion which varies the volume of thepressure chamber is provided. Furthermore, in the elastic plate 27, acompliance portion which seals a part of a common liquid chamber 40 isprovided.

The diaphragm portion is produced by partially removing the supportplate 29 through an etching machining process or the like. That is, thediaphragm portion includes an island portion 31 to which the frontsurface of the piezoelectric vibrator 19 is connected, and a thinelastic portion 32 surrounding the island portion 31. The complianceportion is a portion for absorbing the pressure fluctuation of theliquid stored in the common liquid chamber 40. The damper portion isalso produced by removing the support plate 29 of the area facing theopening surface of the storing space portion through the etchingmachining or the like to leave only the elastic body film 30.

Furthermore, since the front surface of the piezoelectric vibrator 19 isconnected to the island portion 31, the volume of the pressure chambercan be varied by stretching the free end. For example, when thepiezoelectric vibrator 19 is charged to contract the free end in theelement length direction, the island portion 31 is extended. As aresult, the island portion 31 is moved, whereby the volume of thepressure chamber can be increased as compared to the discharging stateof the piezoelectric vibrator 19. Moreover, when the piezoelectricvibrator 19 of the charged state is discharged to stretch the free endin the element length direction, the island portion 31 is pushed to thepressure chamber 24 side. As a result, the volume of the pressurechamber can be reduced as compared to the charged state of thepiezoelectric vibrator 19.

A supply needle unit 33 is provided in the cartridge mounting portion 2.The supply needle unit 33 is a portion connected to a liquid cartridge34 (a kind of liquid supply source) in which liquid is stored, and theliquid stored in the liquid cartridge 34 is supplied into the recordinghead 3 via the supply needle unit 33. In addition, as the liquid supplysource, a liquid storage pack (a storage body in which liquid is stored)may be used without being limited to the liquid cartridge 34.Furthermore, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which aliquid supply source such as the liquid cartridge 34 is disposed at themain body side of the printer 1 and ink is supplied from the liquidsupply source through the ink supply tube to the recording head 3.Moreover, a configuration, in which the liquid storage tank is disposedoutside the printer and the tank is directly or indirectly connected tothe flow path of the inner portion of the printer, may be adopted.

The supply needle unit 33 in the present embodiment is roughlyconstituted by a liquid supply needle 35 and a needle holder 36. Theliquid supply needle 35 is a member that is inserted into the innerportion of the liquid cartridge 34, and introduces the liquid, which wasstored in the liquid cartridge 34, into the needle. The top of theliquid supply needle 35 is sharpened in a conical shape, and a pluralityof liquid introduction holes extending between the inside and outsidethe needle are formed. The needle holder 36 is a member for attachingthe liquid supply needle 35, and the surface thereof is formed with apedestal 37 for fixedly attaching a root portion of the liquid supplyneedle 35.

The supply needle unit 33 is disposed on the attachment surface of thecase 16. In the disposition state, a liquid outlet and the connectionprotrusion of the case 16 communicate with each other via a packing 38in a liquid-tight state. In addition, at the inside of the connectionprotrusion, a liquid supply path 39 passing through the case 16 isformed. The liquid supply path 39 communicates with the common liquidchamber 40 of the flow path unit 17. Thus, the liquid stored in theliquid cartridge 34 flows in the common liquid chamber 40 through theliquid supply path 39.

In the recording head 3 and the supply needle unit 33, there is formed aseries of liquid flow paths that lead from the liquid supply needle 35through the common liquid chamber 40 and the pressure chamber 24 to thenozzle 25. In addition, upon operating the piezoelectric vibrator 19,the volume of the pressure chamber can be changed as described above. Bythe fluctuation in the volume of the pressure chamber, the pressurefluctuation occurs in the liquid within the pressure chamber 24, andthus, the liquid pressure in the pressure chamber 24 can be changed,whereby the liquid droplets can be ejected from the nozzle 25. Forexample, when the piezoelectric vibrator 19 is charged to expand thepressure chamber 24 and then the piezoelectric vibrator 19 is rapidlydischarged to contract the pressure chamber 24, the liquid flowed in thepressure chamber 24 is rapidly pressurized by the expansion of thepressure chamber 24 and the liquid droplets are ejected from the nozzle25.

As the ink ejected from the printer 1, for example, a pigment ink isused. The ink is regulated so that a pigment concentration, amoisturizer concentration or the like is suitable for the application ofthe image printing or the like. In addition, in the present embodiment,total 6 colors of inks of black ink (K), cyan ink (C), magenta ink (M),yellow ink (Y), white ink (W), and silver ink (S) are used. As theseinks, it is desirable to use an ultraviolet curable ink (a UV ink: akind of photo curable liquid). The ultraviolet curable ink is differentfrom a normal water-based ink in that, after landing the ink on therecording medium (an object to be landed), by irradiating theultraviolet from an ultraviolet irradiation unit (not shown) withrespect to the landing position to cure the ink, a stable printingquality can be secured without being influenced by the physical propertyof the recording medium such as the ink permeability.

Herein, the white ink is an ink that contains a white-based pigment, andis a kind of the white-based liquid in the invention. As the white-basedpigment, for example, titanium dioxide can be suitably used.Furthermore, the silver ink is an ink including the gloss-based pigmentand a kind of the gloss-based liquid in the invention. As thegloss-based pigment, for example, it is possible to use a powder-type orpaste-type metal pigment formed of a metal such as aluminum, and a pearlpigment formed of mica titanium or the like in which the surface of micais coated with the metal oxide. The printer 1 is configured so that aspecial visual effect can be obtained in the recording image using thewhite ink or the silver ink. This point will be described later.

Next, an allocation of each color of ink to the nozzle row will bedescribed.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view that explains the configuration of the nozzleplate 11. In FIG. 3, a left and right direction is a main scanningdirection, a right side thereof is a home position side (HP), and a leftside thereof is a recording area side (RP). Furthermore, an up and downdirection in FIG. 3 is a sub-scanning direction (a transportationdirection of the recording paper 6), a lower side thereof is an upstreamside (UR), and an upper side is a downstream side (LR). The nozzle plate11 is a thin plate formed of the metal or the like in which a pluralityof nozzles 25 is formed in a pitch corresponding to the dot formationdensity. In the nozzle plate 11 in the present embodiment, a pluralityof nozzles 25 is provided in rows in a direction equivalent to thesub-scanning direction to constitute each nozzle row 28 a-28 f, wherebya plurality of nozzle rows 28 a-28 f is formed in a direction equivalentto the main scanning direction. In the present embodiment, six rows ofnozzle rows 28 a-28 f are formed. Each nozzle row 28 a-28 f is formed of360 nozzles 25 that are opened, for example, by the pitch correspondingto 360 dpi. In the present embodiment, a first nozzle row 28 acorresponding to the white ink (W) and the silver ink (S), a secondnozzle row 28 b corresponding to the white ink (W) and the silver ink(S), a third nozzle row 28 c corresponding to the yellow ink (Y), afourth nozzle row 28 d corresponding to the magenta ink (M), a fifthnozzle row 28 e corresponding to the cyan ink (C), and a sixth nozzlerow 28 f corresponding to the black ink (K) are formed in rows in thedirection corresponding to the main scanning direction.

Herein, there is a relative positional relationship in which, at thetime of being on the forward pass of the recording head 3 in the mainscanning direction, the first nozzle row 28 a becomes the front side(from which ink is first ejected), and the second nozzle row 28 bbecomes the rear side. On the other hand, at the time of being on thereturning pass thereof, the second nozzle row 28 b becomes the frontside and the first nozzle row 28 a becomes the rear side. The firstnozzle row 28 a is divided into two nozzle groups including the nozzlegroup (shown by black circles in the drawing) of an upstream side half(180) in the sub-scanning direction and the nozzle group of a downstreamside half (180) in the same direction, and the liquid flow paths of bothnozzle groups are also separated from each other. In addition, it isconfigured so that the nozzle group disposed at the upstream side ejectsthe silver ink (S), and the nozzle group disposed at the downstream sideejects the white ink (W). Thus, the nozzle group of the upstream side ofthe first nozzle row 28 a is equivalent to the gloss-basedcorrespondence nozzle group and the downstream nozzle group thereof isequivalent to the white-based correspondence nozzle group. Similarly,the second nozzle row 28 b is configured so that the nozzle groupdisposed at the upstream side thereof ejects the white ink (W) and thenozzle group (shown by black circles in the drawing) disposed at thedownstream side thereof ejects the silver ink (S). The nozzle group ofthe upstream side of the second nozzle row 28 b is equivalent to thewhite-based correspondence nozzle group, and the downstream side nozzlegroup thereof is equivalent to the gloss-based correspondence nozzlegroup. In addition, the first nozzle row 28 a and the second nozzle row28 b are disposed in the state of being adjacent to each other withoutother nozzle row being disposed therebetween. Moreover, the first nozzlerow 28 a and the second nozzle row 28 b are disposed relatively in thesame position in the main scanning direction. For example, it is notpreferable to adopt an arrangement in which the second nozzle row 28 bdeviates with respect to the nozzle pitch of the first nozzle row 28 aby the half pitch. This arrangement is caused by the fact that afterejecting the silver ink, the white ink is ejected to and landed on thelanding position of the silver ink in the present embodiment. Thedetails thereof will be described later.

Next, the electric configuration of the printer 1 will be described. Asshown in FIG. 4, the printer 1 is roughly constituted by a printcontroller 44 and a print engine 45.

The print controller 44 includes a control portion (a kind of controlunit) including a CPU, a ROM and a RAM, a drive signal generatingcircuit 47 (a kind of drive signal generating unit) that generates thedrive signal for supplying to the recording head 3 or the like. On theother hand, the print engine 45 includes a pulse motor 10 (a kind ofrelative movement unit), a paper transporting motor 48 (a kind oflanding object transporting unit), and the recording head 3 or the like.In addition, the operations of the respective portions can be controlledby the control portion 46.

The control portion 46 is a portion that performs the control in theprinter 1. The control portion 46 is electrically connected to a contactpoint terminal 50, and thus it is possible to read various pieces ofinformation stored in a contact point ROM 49 of the mounted liquidcartridge 34. For this reason, the control portion 46 can recognize thetype or the like of ink stored in the liquid cartridge 34 based on theread information. Furthermore, the control portion 46 can redraftvarious pieces of information stored in the contact point ROM 49.

The control portion 46 creates the dot pattern data for controlling therecording head 3 based on the print data that is transmitted from anexternal apparatus such as a host computer. In addition, the controlportion 46 transmits the created dot pattern data to the recording head3. Furthermore, the control portion 46 also serves as a drive signalsetting unit, sets the drive signal of the waveform suitable for theprinting the image or the like, and generates the drive signal from thedrive signal generating circuit 47. In addition, the control portion 46operates the pulse motor 10 to move the carriage 4 (the recording head3) to a desired position or operates the paper transporting motor 48 todeliver the recording paper 6.

The drive signal generating circuit 47 is a portion that serves as thedrive signal generating unit, and generates the drive signal forsupplying to the recording head 3 under the control by the controlportion 46. As shown in FIG. 5, the drive signal generating circuit 47of the present embodiment can concurrently generate two types of drivesignals COM1 and COM2.

Hereinafter, each drive signal will be described. The first drive signalCOM1 is a series of signals that include three first drive pulses DP1,which are set so as to enlarge the ejection amount of the liquid dropletas much as possible, within a unit period that is a repeating period ofthe drive signal and is divided into a timing signal such as a latchpulse at equal distances. The first drive pulse DP1 is a drive pulsewhich sets the drive voltage, that is, the electric potential differencebetween a maximum electric potential and a minimum electric potential ashigh as possible up to an extent that is allowable by the piezoelectricvibrator 19. In addition, whenever the first drive pulse DP1 is suppliedto one piezoelectric vibrator 19, the maximum amount of ink droplets isejected from the nozzle 25. In the present embodiment, when the silverink is mainly ejected, the first drive pulse DP1 is used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second drive signal COM2 is a series of signalsthat includes three second drive pulses DP2 within the unit period atequal distances. The second drive pulse DP2 is a drive pulse which isset so that the amount of the ejected ink droplet becomes smaller thanthe case of the first drive pulse DP1, while the basic waveform shapethereof is the same as that of the first drive pulse DP1. Moreparticularly, the second drive pulse DP2 is different from the firstdrive pulse DP1 in that the drive voltage is set to be lower than thatof the first drive pulse DP1. In the present embodiment, in a case whereejecting the ink other than the silver ink, the second drive pulse DP2is used. In addition, the first drive pulse DP1 and the second drivepulse DP2 are configured so that the drive voltages thereof aredifferent from each other, but the present invention is not limitedthereto. For example, by making the drive voltages of both equal to eachother and making the slope of the electric potential change of thesecond drive pulse DP2 gentler than that of the first drive pulse DP1,the amount of the ink droplets ejected by the second drive pulse DP2 maybe smaller than the case of the first drive pulse DP1.

Next, in the printer 1 having the configuration as mentioned above, theprinting process using the silver ink and the white ink will bedescribed. In this printing process, the silver ink is ejected onto therecording medium such as the recording paper 6 in advance to print therecording medium using the silver ink layer (forming the glossy layer ofthe invention) as a base, and then, the white ink is ejected onto thesilver ink layer to form the white ink layer in an overlapping manner(forming the white layer of the invention).

When the power supply is turned on, the control portion 46 carries out apredetermined initializing operation. In the initializing operation, thecarriage 4 is operated in the main scanning direction, therebyperforming the position recognition of the carriage 4 (the recordinghead 3) or the like, or clearing unnecessary information within the workarea. If the initializing operation has been performed, the controlportion 46 controls the pulse motor 10 or the paper transporting motor48, thereby moving the carriage 4 in the main scanning direction(equivalent to the relative movement direction in the invention) anddelivering the recording paper 6 in the sub-scanning direction(equivalent to the transportation direction in the invention). Inaddition, the control portion 46 controls the supply of the first drivepulse DP1 and the second drive pulse DP2 to the piezoelectric vibrator19 in synchronization with the movement of the carriage 4 or therecording paper 6.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram that explains the aspect of the printingprocess (the recording process) in the forward pass direction(equivalent to a first relative movement direction) in which therecording head 3 performs the ejection of ink from the nozzle 25 whilemoving from one home position side in the main scanning direction to theother side thereof. Furthermore, FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of an areaVII in FIGS. 6A and 6B. As shown in FIG. 6A, in the forward pass, thesilver ink is ejected from the gloss-based correspondence nozzle group(S) disposed at the upstream side of the first nozzle row 28 a in thesub-scanning direction by the first ejection pulse DP1 and is landed ina predetermined position of the recording paper 6. As a result, thesilver ink layer 51 is formed on the recording paper 6. Then, at thetiming when the recording head 3 is moved by the gap of the adjacentnozzle rows, the white ink is ejected from the white-basedcorrespondence nozzle group disposed at the upstream side of the secondnozzle row 28 b in the sub-scanning direction by the second drive pulseDP2 and is landed on the silver ink layer 51 that was formed in advance.As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the white ink layer 52 is formed on thesilver ink layer 51 in an overlapped manner. In this manner, theprinting process of the forward pass is performed while alternatelyejecting the silver ink and the white ink from the recording head 3 inan overlapped manner.

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram that explains the aspect of the printingprocess in the returning pass direction (equivalent to a second relativemovement direction) in which the recording head 3 performs the ejectionof ink from the nozzle 25 while moving from the other side in the mainscanning direction to one home position side thereof. When the printingprocess of the forward pass is finished, the recording paper 6 istransported to the downstream side of the sub-scanning direction by thehalf of the nozzle row, that is, the distance corresponding to thelength of one nozzle group through the operation of the papertransporting motor 48, and then the printing process of the returningpass is performed. As shown in FIG. 6B, in the returning pass, thesilver ink is ejected from the gloss-based correspondence nozzle group(S) disposed at the downstream side of the second nozzle row 28 b in thesub-scanning direction by the first drive pulse DP1, and is landed in apredetermined position of the recording paper 6, whereby the silver inklayer 51 is formed. Then, at the timing when the recording head 3 ismoved by the gap of the adjacent nozzle rows, the white ink is ejectedfrom the white-based correspondence nozzle group disposed at thedownstream side of the first nozzle row 28 a in the sub-scanningdirection by the second drive pulse DP2 and is landed on the silver inklayer 51 that was formed in advance. As a result, in the same manner asthe case of the forward pass, the white ink layer 52 is formed on thesilver ink layer 51 in an overlapped manner. In this manner, theprinting process of the returning pass is performed while alternatelyejecting the silver ink and the white ink in an overlapped manner.

In this manner, by performing the printing process while alternatelyejecting the silver ink and the white ink in the forward pass and thereturning pass, the ground color of the recording medium such as therecording paper 6 is covered over the silver ink layer 51 and isconcealed and the white ink layer 52 is formed thereon using the silverink layer 51 as a base, and thus, the glossy feeling of the silver inklayer 51 can be obtained. As a result, as compared to a case of directlyforming the white ink layer 52 on the recording medium, the brightnessof the white ink layer 52 can be heightened, with the result that thewhite coloring can be further accentuated.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the amount of the ink dropletswhen the silver ink is ejected is set to become larger than that whenthe white ink is ejected, and thus, the area covered by the silver inklayer 51 becomes greater than that of the white ink layer 52. As aresult, the ground color of the recording medium of the silver ink layer51 is more reliably concealed and the glossy feeling is furtheremphasized, and thus, the coloring of the white ink layer 52 can befurther accentuated. In addition, even if, particularly, the recordingmedium is a resin film or the like through which light is transmitted,by the concealment action of the silver ink layer 51 being the base, thecoloring property of ink to be formed thereon can be secured. Inaddition, in the printer 1, it is possible to effectively perform therecording both in the forward pass and the returning pass.

Herein, in the above-mentioned embodiment (the first embodiment), theconfiguration, in which white is accentuated by forming the white inklayer 52 thereon using the silver ink layer 51 as the base, has beendescribed, but the invention is not limited thereto, on the contrary,the metallic texture can be accentuated by forming the silver ink layerthereon using the white ink layer as the base.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view that explains a configuration of a nozzleplate 11′ in a second embodiment. The difference from the firstembodiment is the allocation of the silver ink and the white ink in thefirst nozzle row 28 a and the second nozzle row 28 b, and otherconfigurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and thusthe description thereof will be omitted. The first nozzle row 28 a inthe present embodiment is configured so that the nozzle group of theupstream side half of the sub-scanning direction ejects the white ink(W) and the nozzle group disposed at the downstream side ejects thesilver ink (S). Thus, the nozzle group of the upstream side of the firstnozzle row 28 a is equivalent to the white-based correspondence nozzlegroup, and the nozzle group of the downstream side thereof is equivalentto the gloss-based correspondence nozzle group. Similarly, the secondnozzle row 28 b is configured so that the nozzle group disposed at theupstream side thereof ejects the silver ink (S) and the nozzle groupdisposed at the downstream side thereof ejects the white ink (W). Thus,the nozzle group of the upstream side of the second nozzle row 28 b isequivalent to the gloss-based correspondence nozzle group, and thenozzle group of the downstream side is equivalent to the white-basedcorrespondence nozzle group. In addition, the first nozzle row 28 a andthe second nozzle row 28 b are in the adjacent state without othernozzle rows disposed therebetween.

Next, the printing process using the silver ink and the white ink in thepresent embodiment will be described. In the printing process, after thewhite ink is ejected onto the recording medium such as the recordingpaper 6 in advance to perform the printing using the white ink layer asthe base, the silver ink is ejected onto the white ink layer to form thesilver ink layer in an overlapping manner.

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram explaining the aspect of the printingprocess in the forward pass direction in the present embodiment.Furthermore, FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of an area X in FIGS. 9A and9B. As shown in FIG. 9A, in the forward pass, the white ink is ejectedfrom the white-based correspondence nozzle group (W) disposed at theupstream side of the first nozzle row 28 a in the sub-scanning directionby the first ejection pulse DP1 and is landed in a predeterminedposition of the recording paper 6. As a result, the white ink layer 52is first formed on the recording paper 6. Then, at the timing when therecording head 3 is moved by the gap of the adjacent nozzle rows, thesilver ink is ejected from the gloss-based correspondence nozzle groupdisposed at the upstream side of the second nozzle row 28 b in thesub-scanning direction by the second drive pulse DP2 and lands on thewhite ink layer 52 that was formed in advance. As a result, as shown inFIG. 10, the silver ink layer 51 is formed on the white ink layer 52 inan overlapping manner. In this manner, the printing process of theforward pass is performed while alternately ejecting the white ink andthe silver ink from the recording head 3 in an overlapping manner.

FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram that explains the aspect of the printingprocess of the returning pass direction in the present embodiment. Whenthe printing process of the forward pass is finished, the recordingpaper 6 is transported to the downstream side of the sub-scanningdirection by half of the nozzle row, that is, the distance correspondingto the length of one nozzle group through the operation of the papertransporting motor 48, and then the printing process of the returningpass is performed. As shown in FIG. 9B, in the returning pass, the whiteink is ejected from the white-based correspondence nozzle group (W)disposed at the downstream side of the second nozzle row 28 b in thesub-scanning direction by the first drive pulse DP1, and is landed in apredetermined position of the recording paper 6, whereby the white inklayer 52 is formed. Then, at the timing when the recording head 3 ismoved by the gap of the adjacent nozzle rows, the silver ink is ejectedfrom the gloss-based correspondence nozzle group disposed at thedownstream side of the first nozzle row 28 a in the sub-scanningdirection by the second drive pulse DP2 and is landed on the white inklayer 52 that was formed in advance.

As a result, in the same manner as the case of the forward pass, thesilver ink layer 51 is formed on the white ink layer 52 in anoverlapping manner. In this manner, the printing process of thereturning pass is performed while alternately ejecting the white ink andthe silver ink in an overlapping manner.

In this manner, by performing the printing process while alternatelyejecting the white ink and the silver ink in both directions of theforward pass and the returning pass, the ground color of the recordingmedium such as the recording paper 6 is covered by the white ink layer52 and is concealed and the silver ink layer 51 is formed thereon usingthe white ink layer 52 as the base. Thus, as compared to a case ofdirectly forming the silver ink layer 51 on the landing object, thebrightness of the silver ink layer 51 can be heightened, with the resultthat the metallic glossy feeling of silver ink layer 51 can be furtheraccentuated.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the first drive pulse DP1 andthe second drive pulse DP2 can be used separately so that the amount ofthe ink droplets when the white ink is ejected is set to become largerthan that when the silver ink is ejected. Thus, the covering area of thewhite ink layer 52 becomes greater than that of the silver ink layer 51.As a result, the ground color of the recording medium can be morereliably concealed by the white ink layer 52 and the glossy feeling isfurther emphasized, and thus, the glossy feeling of the silver ink layer51 can be further accentuated. In addition, particularly, even if therecording medium is a resin film or the like through which light istransmitted, by the concealment action of the white ink layer 52 whichis the base, the coloring property of ink to be formed thereon can besecured.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodimentbut can be variously modified based on the description of the claims.

In each embodiment, the description has been given of the configurationin which the recording head 3 (the carriage 4 with the same mountedthereon) is relatively moved with respect to the recording medium of thestationary state in the reciprocating printing process in the mainscanning direction, but the invention is not limited thereto. Forexample, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which therecording medium is relatively moved with respect to the recording head3 in the state in which the position of the recording head 3 is fixed.

Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the invention was describedusing one recording head 3, which includes for example, the first nozzlerow 28 a corresponding to the white ink (W) and the silver ink (S), thesecond nozzle row 28 b corresponding to the white ink (W) and the silverink (S), the third nozzle row 28 c corresponding to the yellow ink (Y),the fourth nozzle row 28 d corresponding to the magenta ink (M), thefifth nozzle row 28 e corresponding to the cyan ink (C), and the sixthnozzle row 28 f corresponding to the black ink (K) are formed so as tobe arranged in the direction corresponding to the main scanningdirection.

However variations may be made wherein, for example, the recording headin which the first nozzle row 28 a corresponding to the white ink (W)and the silver ink (S), and the second nozzle row 28 b corresponding tothe white ink (W) and the silver ink (S) are provided and the recordinghead with the nozzle rows of other colors provided therein may beindividually provided without being limited to this form. In addition,the recording head with the first nozzle row 28 a corresponding to thewhite ink (W) and the silver ink (S) provided therein and the recordinghead with the second nozzle row 28 b corresponding to the white ink (W)and the silver ink (S) provided therein may be separated from eachother, and the “recording head” and the “liquid ejection head” of theinvention are interpreted as collectively expressing that a plurality ofrecording heads (the liquid ejection heads) is provided.

Furthermore, the drive signal for driving the piezoelectric vibrator 19and the drive pulse included therein are not limited to those indicatedin the above-mentioned embodiment, but can adopt an arbitraryconfiguration. In short, a configuration, in which the amount of inkforming the base becomes larger than the amount of the ink to be landedon the base, may be adopted.

Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the first nozzle row 28 aand the second nozzle row 28 b were provided by dividing the white inknozzles and the silver ink nozzles equally respectively. However, forexample, depending on the printing data, the white ink nozzles of thefirst nozzle row 28 a may be provided in a greater number than thesilver ink nozzles, and the white ink nozzles of the second nozzle row28 b may be provided so as to relatively reduce the silver ink nozzlesof the second nozzle row 28 b in view of the number of the silver inknozzles of the first nozzle row 28 a, without being limited to thatindicated in the above-mentioned embodiment.

In addition, the example described above is an ink jet type recordingprinter. However, the invention is not limited thereto. The inventioncan be applied to other liquid ejection apparatuses, for example, acolor material ejection apparatus used in manufacturing a color filterof a liquid crystal display or the like, an electrode material ejectionapparatus used in forming the electrode of an organic EL display, a FEDor the like, and a vital organic matter ejection apparatus or the likeused in manufacturing a bio chip, if they have a configuration whichlands two kinds of liquids on the landing object in an overlappingmanner.

What is claimed is:
 1. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: awhite-based nozzle group that ejects a white-based liquid; a gloss-basednozzle group that ejects a gloss-based liquid; and a control portionthat forms a white layer by using the white-based nozzle group and aglossy layer by using the gloss-based nozzle group; wherein, the controlportion forms another layer onto one layer of the white layer and theglossy layer.
 2. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the control portion makes an amount of a liquid using the onelayer greater than an amount of a liquid using the another layer.
 3. Theliquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controlportion forms the white layer onto the glossy layer.
 4. The liquidejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control portionmakes an amount of the gloss-based liquid using the glossy layer greaterthan an amount of the white-based liquid using the white layer.
 5. Theliquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controlportion forms the glossy layer onto the white layer.
 6. The liquidejecting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control portionmakes an amount of the white-based liquid using the white layer greaterthan an amount of the gloss-based liquid using the glossy layer.
 7. Theliquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: arecording head that includes the white-based nozzle group and thegloss-based nozzle group, and moves a first direction and a seconddirection opposite to the first direction; wherein, the control portionforms the another layer onto the one layer of the white layer and theglossy layer, while moving the recording head in the first direction. 8.The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the controlportion forms the another layer onto the one layer of the white layerand the glossy layer, while moving the recording head in the seconddirection.
 9. A liquid ejecting method comprising: ejecting awhite-based liquid from a white-based nozzle group; ejecting agloss-based liquid from a gloss-based nozzle group; and forming a whitelayer by using the white-based nozzle group, and a glossy layer by usingthe gloss-based nozzle group; wherein, forming another layer onto onelayer of the white layer and the glossy layer.